


Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Odyssey to Dawn (Re-written)

by Adam_Hu



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Pokemon mys
Genre: Childhood Friends, Eventual Romance, F/M, Family, Family Fluff, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Half-Siblings, Interspecies Romance, Male-Female Friendship, Platonic Romance, Pokemon - Freeform, Pokemon Fanfiction, Pokemon Journey, Sibling Bonding, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-10 16:27:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12915723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adam_Hu/pseuds/Adam_Hu
Summary: Shadows; they lurk near, infecting the heart, weakening it and then consuming it. Such is their nature. The world has seen the horrors of shadows in the form of Primal Dialga, Dark Matter and Bittercold, but the worst is yet to come. As Harvey and his friends enter this world, can they defeat the shadows, or will it consume them first? In the end, it all leads back to darkness.





	1. Chapter 1

**Hello! This chapter is a new rewritten version of an old one. I'm only posting it now so i can get some early reception on how good the rewrites are compared to the old ones.**

A gentle breeze blew through wild flower vines in a sloped ditch, the leaves swaying by mossy rocks and ferns. Pollen grains and dandelion seeds were sent drifting away by the wind while a young Minccino laid there, curled up, and asleep beneath the shade of rocks. A Ribombee was gathering pollen in a small hand woven sash nearby, doing so by putting her head into flower cups and withdrawing it with pollen grains all over her short delicate hair. After that, she'd then collect the pollen with her thin arms and roll them up then into balls before storing them in the sash. The Ribombee felt that she was done, so she decided to wake her nearby companion.

"Wake up, Harvey!" she yelled into the Minccino's ear at the top of her lungs.

Harvey's deep ocean blue eyes pried open slowly as he woke up. He grumbled a few times before his eyelids started closing up again.

Frowning, the Ribombee yelled at him again. "Harvey!"

"I'm up!" Harvey groaned, rubbing his eyes slowly as he unwrapped his long bushy tail—which he was using as a pillow—and then stretched his paws, his long white tipped ears fluttering as he did. "I'm awake… You can stop yelling now." Harvey ended his sentence with a sigh, glancing at the pink Ribombee.

Rubee buzzed her wings as she zipped around over his head. "I'm done collecting all the pollen and nectar! Now get up, it's time head back home!"

Harvey clicked his tongue, looking away with a lazy expression. "Give me five," he said, lying back down.

When he didn't oblige, she pulled on his ears. "Come on! Get up! You lazy bum!"

"Ow, ow, ow! Quit doing that!" Harvey leapt up, holding the tips of his ears. "Geez! You didn't have to do that!"

"It's your fault for not listening, now let's get going. You don't want to keep Moga waiting too long now, do you?"

"Hey don't forget, you're the one who dragged us all the way out here in the first place," Harvey said as he climbed down off his rock, shuddering as his feet touched the cold moist ground. "Could carry me out of here? I really don't want to have to touch any more of these things. They give me goosebumps." Harvey flailed his paw to shake off some moss, a sick feeling welling up in his gut.

"Sure, Mr. Cleanfreak!" Rubee chuckled, sliding her sash over her head. "Hold this first."

Harvey collected the sash and wore it around his shoulder. He then raised his paws up, smiling. "Up and away, Rubee!"

Rubee rolled her eyes. She wrapped her hands around his chest and flapped her wings continuously until a they made a faint buzz. Soon, Harvey felt his feet leaving the ground as she flew him up towards the mouth of the ditch. "You know, Rubee, it's really amazing how you're able to carry me even though you're like, twice smaller than I am."

"What can I say? You're pretty light; just a ball of fluff and fuzz. I could probably carry you for a couple of hours without breaking a sweat."

Harvey raised a brow, wearing a smirk. "You can?! Why don't we do that now?"

"Nice try." She shook her head, putting him back on the ground once they were out of the ditch. "Can't be bothered. You have like two… four strong legs that can carry you around."

Harvey let out a defeated sigh, scratching his head with his paw as he smiled. "Well, it was worth a shot."

Rubee chuckled as she pulled the sash off him, exposing the strange blue mark he always had on his back for as long as she could remember. It resembled an inverted anchor with a wide flattened crown, slightly curved arms and a slightly blunted base. A round black oval sat in the middle of the crown, building contrast against the blue mark. When she asked him about it the first time, he didn't even know it was there, and it had been a mystery ever since.

"I guess you'll just have to learn how to fly on your own. Who knows? Maybe you'll grow wings when you evolve someday!"

Harvey placed his paw on his chin as he pondered her words. _I don't think I'll have wings even when I evolve. Can a human-turned Pokémon evolve anyway?_

"Hey, I was only joking!" Rubee pleaded, thinking he was saddened from his expression. "I could fly you home now if you want."

Harvey waved his paw dismissively, though appreciating the gesture. "No thanks. I think I'll just walk."

"Okay… Suit yourself!"

***C***

They walked past a wide tree on their way back. A tree so tall, they couldn't see the topmost branches from where they stood. The forest was filled with similarly sized trees, blocking off a lot of sunlight with their large canopies. The tree roots had emerged above the ground, molding the terrain around them to form ridges and slopes. The trees were called Sky Arrows by the locals, and despite their wondrous nature, the rest of the world was mostly unaware of their existence.

As Rubee buzzed in the air, Harvey was half listening to her as she rambled on and on about all the kinds of pollen puffs she was going to make that day. He remained mostly distant for most of the walk until Rubee paused, annoyed when she noticed that he wasn't listening.

She hovered in front of his face with puffed up cheeks. "Hey! Are you even listening to me at all?!"

"What? Oh, of course I was listening, one hundred percent!" Harvey said in an obviously nervous posture.

"Yeah? What was the last word I said?"

Harvey raised his hand to speak, but he slowly lowered it back down. "Okay, you got me."

"Seriously Harvey," she said, sighing. "Your head is always in the clouds these days."

"I'm sorry. It's just that… I've been having these strange thoughts lately…"

"What kind of thoughts? Oh, you must be thinking of how great a sister I am!" she joked, nudging him on the arm.

"What? Not that!" he said, pushing her face away. "You know I've been having dreams about home lately; about my human life… Also, It's been six years, Rubee," Harvey sat on a large root. "To this day, I have no idea why I'm here or how to get back."

Rubee folded her arms, sitting next to him with an attentive look. "Didn't Moga tell you to cut it out? You've been having these dreams for months now. None of those things are real. What's real is what you see now, Harvey… This is where we belong."

"Is it truly?" Harvey frowned and placed his paw on his chin.

Rubee heaved a sigh, tilting her head to the side. "You know, it's not like I don't believe you or anything, but it worries me whenever you bring this up over and over again. It's only a matter of time before you decide to do something crazy, like the time you tried to eat a hundred berries just because someone dared you to."

Harvey threw his hands up, chest stiffened and his smile glowing with determination. "I know what I have to do. I'm to go back to where I came from, and I'll do that by going beyond the forest and over the cliffs! I won't learn anything if I keep staying in one place for the rest of my life… I need to go find answers."

Rubee face palmed with a pout. "Good luck convincing Moga about that." She knew there was no point in trying to make him change his mind at that point. Once Harvey decided on something, he always saw it through to the end. It was something she both liked and despised about her brother.

"It's okay If he's not fine with it. Besides, it's about time we went out to see the world for ourselves, don't you think?"

"I can't speak for you, but I'm pretty comfortable with my life the way it is. I don't want to go into a dangerous place just to see what's on the other side. Sometimes, it's best to just appreciate what you have without asking for more."

"Come on, Rubee. Don't you want to know where you came from too?"

Rubee stared blankly at the ground as she hovered forward, thinking about the faint memories she had of her earliest childhood. She recalled the first time they'd even met; he'd found her injured, wingless and lost near a creek. Yet, he helped her to recover up until her wings grew back. There's not much Rubee could remember before that, and she too often wished she could remember her past.

"Well… I do, but—"

"We can go find out together, if you come with me that is." Harvey stopped, holding out his paw to her. "Well? What do you say?"

Rubee puckered her lips, groaning in indecision. "Fine! If by some miracle Moga allows us to leave the village, then I'll come with you. But if he refuses, then I guess that's that."

"Haha! I knew I could count on you," Harvey said, giving her a wide smile.

***C***

By the time they returned to their village, the sun was about to set. The village wasn't very large, nor was it very populated. The houses of the residents were made of wood harvested from the surrounding forests; most of them were carved out hollows of already standing trees however. Some of the settlers even went ahead and carved in multiple floors in their tree houses. And with the multiple windows and whatnot, it was a miracle that the trees managed to thrive and not fall.

Aside from Harvey and Rubee, all the other villagers were at least part grass type. They were made of three species mainly; shiftrys, simisages and brelooms. However, wild sawsbucks and deerlings still roamed the forests.

Harvey and Rubee headed to the largest tree growing at the heart of the village. There lived the village chief, Moga. The tree house was wide; it had branches stretching out in all directions, all growing thick, rough barks that were as old as they were sturdy, while vines hung down all over the tree. There was also a wooden door at the front, a stone slab at the base, forming a floor mat of sorts, and two windows sat on two sides of the tree.

They say that it was the first tree in the forest to be carved when the villagers first settled there a little over two centuries ago. The village chief at the time, with the help of other villagers, carved the rest of the settlements. It's a bit murky how the other trees came around, but it's general belief among the villagers that the guardian of forests and flowers, Shaymin, created them.

Harvey knocked on the door three times and then turned the knob. "Moga, we're back!" they announced.

Rubee pushed away a hanging vine that was getting in the way. "Harvey, don't you think it's about time you cut these vines already?"

Harvey threw her a look. "Isn't it your turn to do it?"

"Is it?"

"Yes. Yes it is."

"Ugh, but I don't wanna!"

Harvey clicked his tongue, and not wanting to keep going at it, he opened the door so they could go in. Almost everything inside the house was wooden. The chairs, tables, utensils, cleaning equipment, the list goes on.

The living room inside was somewhat large, where some couches were placed in an orderly fashion for visitors. The couches were arranged around a wide straw mat spread in the middle and a large chair stood at the end of the room where the chief sat during meetings. Harvey glanced at the numerous paintings hung on the walls ranging from landscapes to portrait images depicting nature mostly. They were gifts from the other settlers.

"Ah! You have returned, Harvey and Rubee." Moga gestured them to come over with his hand. He dropped the small figure he was carving on his table as he leaned to them. "How was your day?"

"It was great! I found some new flowers not far away!" Rubee said, quickly downplaying the distance they actually went to get the flowers. "I can't wait to see the kind of pollen puffs I can make with them!"

"I just hope they won't be poisonous this time," Harvey grumbled, looking like he was about to throw up because Rubee always had him try out the pollen puffs first whenever she made them using new flowers.

Rubee pouted, turning her face away. "I apologized about last time, okay?! Stop bringing it back up every chance you get."

Moga watched as the two half siblings quarreled, prompting him to smile almost proudly. He was seated on a chair, holding a walking stick in front of him. The shiftry was the oldest settler in the village. The leaves on his hands had grown crimson, and his hair was rough to the touch as a result of his old age.

"Now stop that you two, you can settle your differences later," he said. "Rubee dear, could you get me some water?"

Rubee silently obliged, buzzing her way to the kitchen to get the water. She left her sash behind on the floor and as she left, Harvey picked it up and hung it on a rack next to a window. He then closed the door they left open and used his tail to sweep the dirt they'd carried in with them.

Harvey then grew quiet. He was feeling nervous about how he would approach telling Moga about what was on his mind. He stared at the ground as he scratched the back of his head.

"Is everything alright?" Moga said, snapping him from his idleness.

"Oh, I was just thinking… well… there's something I need to let you know."

At that time, Rubee was about to fly into the room while holding the bowl of water over her head. When she heard them talking, she stayed behind the door and decided to listen to see how things would go.

"What is it? Please don't tell me it's about those dreams of yours about another life again."

Harvey swallowed, his heart beating faster, but he continued. "Actually, it's more than just that. I've done a lot of thinking lately, and I decided, I'm going."

Moga sat up, his grip on his stick strengthening. "Going? Where to?"

"I'm going to leave the village and find a way to get back home. I know I'll never learn anything if I stay here." He turned around with his paw poking the mark on his back. "I also need to know what this thing means."

Moga let out an exasperated sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Listen Harvey, what you're trying to do is too reckless for me to approve."

"It'll be alright, I promise! I can take care of myself out there in the world. And I know there's a whole world out there beyond this village which is why—"

"Harvey… I understand that you feel lost and confused at times. We all do. But I cannot let you go on with this… You cannot leave this village under any circumstance. You know fully well that the only way out of this village is through Kalledes Dead End. You know It's a very dangerous place and none of the people that went in there ever came back alive. This village has been our prison longer than you were born. What makes you think you can do what others couldn't?"

"You always say that Kalledes is dangerous and we should stay away from it! But who's to say that all those other people just wanted to go out and see what's out there and didn't come back? There are many things that may have caused them to disappear, and i wouldn't know whether if it's really dangerous as you make it sound unless go there and see it for myself."

"You're willing to throw your life away? At what cost? What even makes you think you'll find the answers you're looking for? You'll just end up on a wild goose chase, and that's even if you can survive the place you're so eager to plunge right into!" Moga stopped to catch his breath. He then got up and walked a few steps towards Harvey. "Just forfeit this Harvey. You have everything you need here. There are nice people, abundant food, clean water, what more could you ask for?"

Harvey clenched his fists, then raised his head again. "You're right. I'll be honest, it was a stupid idea."

Moga smiled, glad he could get through. "I'm glad you could understand."

"I'm going upstairs now," Harvey said, leaving the living room. On his way, he walked past Rubee.

Rubee's eyebrows lowered in suspicion at Harvey—He of all people gave up on something?!—before she entered the room to fulfill Moga's request. "Here's the water you asked for…"

"Oh, thank you Rubee." Moga stood in front of his chair and exhaled. "I fear for that boy these days." He muttered to himself. "There's still so much that he doesn't know."

Rubee gently kept the bowl on the table near the chair and lowered her head. She took her hung sash and glanced at Moga momentarily. "I'll go and make some pollen puffs now. Would you like some?"

"Yes please, dear." He smiled. "I could use some."

***C***

Harvey lay on his small bed, which was the size of a bucket with a cushion in it. He idly stared at the ceiling, his breathing and expression calm and content. He wasn't simply lying around doing nothing. He was still deep in thought. _Dammit, Moga, why does he have to be so over dramatic? *tch* Looks like this is it, I'm never going back home now. Yeah right. Unless they plan on putting me in chains—_

A few knocks came from the door, followed by a familiar buzz. "Harvey? Would you like a pollen puff? It's buttercup flavored."

"No, thank you." He spoke audibly enough to be heard.

"Oh, okay then. Can I come in anyway?"

"No, I want to be alone right now."

"I see…"

She left.

***C***

Some hours passed. Harvey watched through his window as the last lights got put out. He gulped and turned to look at his door for a few seconds.

"Okay, the coast is clear now. Time to get moving," Harvey whispered to himself.

He got down from the window and grabbed a small bag to carry all the things he would need on his journey, starting with his blanket. Too bad his bag wasn't big enough for him to carry his bed along with, as much as he'd wanted to. The next thing he took was his hand-crafted bow along with some makeshift arrows to go along with it. He used his bow and arrow to hunt sawsbucks and deerlings from time to time, and he was very good at it.

He gently unlocked the door, scanning the corridors to see if anyone was there as he poked his head through. It was all clear. He went down on his front paws and tip toed his way through the corridor. As he passed by Rubee's room, he noticed that her door was hanging open. Harvey's ears stood on alert, but when he picked up faint snores from the other side of the door, he proceeded ahead.

_That was close. Thought she'd be awake there for a second._

Harvey climbed downstairs, creating as little noise as possible in his tracks. He went to the storage room and took some berries. That was all he thought he'd need initially. Taking money was completely out of the question and he only took the berries because Moga gave them the privilege to take them any time they wanted, but he'd have to steal to get his hands on cash. He could live with being a disobedient runaway Pokémon, but not as a thief.

Harvey glanced at the front door. It was probably locked, and Moga would be with the keys, which meant there was only one other way out.

He tip toed back to his room and climbed out through the window. Rubee not cutting off those hanging vines on time had paid off. Climbing down them was easy for him and he was finally out of the house. He stared back up the window and took a deep breath; the same window that he fell out of when he and Rubee were fighting over the last oran berry the other day. The same tall tree that he had learned to climb when he was only as tall as Moga's knees. The very same tree they used to sneak into for berries before Moga took them in. All those memories, and he was leaving them behind. Harvey felt bad, but his determination superseded the guilt about his decision.

"Goodbye everyone. Thank you for taking care of me through all these years." Harvey turned around and ran on all fours. The sooner he got to the crevice and went into it, the better it'd be, and the lower his chances of being thwarted would become.

***C***

Harvey stopped to catch his breath as he encountered a cliff. Ahead of him was an old bridge, and beyond that was the entrance to Kalledes Dead End, which he could faintly see underneath the moonlight. Harvey always had a feeling that the village was probably inside an impact crater of some kind, but he could never truly be sure of that assessment. At least that's one thing he could do by leaving the village.

Harvey slapped his cheeks and shook his face. "I have to do this. It's like Dad always used to tell me, 'move forward no matter what'"

"So, you ARE leaving."

His heart sink to his stomach when he heard that voice. Harvey slowly turned his head over his shoulder to look at the person. "Rubee? I thought you were asleep."

"I guess you must've woken me up." She gave him a judging expression. "Actually, I couldn't sleep at all."

Harvey clenched his paw and turned around to look at her properly. "If you're here to stop me, then give it up. I've already made up my mind, Rubee."

She put her hand on her red scarf-like filament. "Relax, that's not what I'm here to do."

"Then what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I'm coming with you." Her mouth curved into a smile. "You did ask me to come with you before, didn't you?"

"Didn't you say that you wouldn't come with me if Moga didn't allow it?" Harvey folded his arms, his ears tilting. "Why change your mind now? You don't have to do this if you don't really want to. I don't want to make you feel like you're being forced to do anything. I'm not."

"We made a promise a long time ago, remember? That we'd always be together, through thick and thin, no matter what. Besides, you once told me that you're nothing without me, and I'm nothing without you either." She flew in front of him and threw him a smile. "So, come on, let's go show whatever's in that spooky place who's boss."

Harvey nodded, exhaling a sigh. "Alright then, suit yourself."

They stopped in front of the dungeon entrance. The thick vines and leaves covering the entrance climbed down all the way to the ground, only stopping by Harvey's toes. Harvey eyed a large pink bulb that grew over the crevice, and it seemed to be where all the vines were growing out from.

When Harvey spoke, he could hear his voice echoing in the hole in front of them. He and Rubee exchanged looks and then nodded at each other. They had reached the point of no return. There was no going back. They'd made their choice and their paths were set. They entered the dungeon, and disappeared into its darkness.

 


	2. Blue

Harvey heaved a sigh, shrugging. "Fine, but don't let your guard dow— look out!"

Rubee's chest fell as she pulled backwards, narrowly evading an attack from above. She shot the attacking creature a glare. It was a green spider Pokémon, and it had its fangs halfway buried into the ground.

"Rubee!" Harvey yelled, drawing out his bow and arrow. Aware of the situation, Rubee steered clear of the path for him to shoot. Harvey released the arrow just as the Spinarak pulled its fangs free, but the arrow merely grazed the Spinarak's exoskeleton as it flipped sideways from the attack.

Harvey shot it a glare, clicking his tongue. "Dang, I almost had it!"

Rubee pointed at the Spinarak, her face twisting. "Ew! What's it trying to do now?!"

The Spinarak growled, turning around and raising its rear toward them. It shot a jet of sticky webs from its spinneret straight at Harvey. Harvey dropped into an evasive stance and rolled out of the way, glancing at the webs flying past his previous position.

 _That was a close one! The last thing I need is to have some sticky webs on my body._ The mere thought of it caused Harvey to shudder.

"Why you no good idiot poop face!" Rubee yelled, swiping her palm across her red scarf filament, extracting a yellow glowing fluid from it. Pollen grains from her body followed the movements of her hand as she moved it around to form the pollen puff. She then hurled it at the Spinarak, who was unaware.

The pollen puff hit, exploding into a cloud of dust, throwing the Spinarak into a restless fit as the fluids from the pollen puff burned its eyes, coughing and sneezing as the pollen dust irritated it even further. It started hitting its face against the wall as it tried to flee.

Harvey saw his chance, pulling another arrow from his bag and shooting at the Spinarak swiftly. The arrow didn't remain airborne too long; it went right into the Spinarak's head with a cracking sound in a fraction of a second.

The Spinarak let out a pained screech, fidgeting uncontrollably until it threw itself upside down. It squirmed about like that for a few seconds before it exploded into white dust particles.

Harvey and Rubee stared wide-eyed at what transpired, neither of them saying a word for a minute. Harvey walked over and retrieved his used arrow, discovering that there wasn't any blood on it.

Rubee scratched her cheek, her heart still pounding in her chest. "Uhm… are wild Pokémon supposed to pop like that?"

"No, but like I said, this place isn't exactly normal either. I have a feeling this isn't going to be the last one we'll be seeing… We need to be more careful, so don't go wandering off like that again," Harvey said, returning the arrow into a pocket in his bag.

"Yeah, we need to get out of here quickly," Rubee said, turning around to stare at the dead end behind them.

***C***

Harvey dragged his paw against the wall as they walked. They hadn't encountered any more Pokémon since the Spinarak from before, making their adventure grow dull.

Harvey heaved a sigh, half hoping for something exciting to happen, then his ears perked up as his nose picked up a scent. He sniffed a few times just to be sure, and there really was a faint, yet depressing atmosphere to the environment.

"Hey, Harvey, do you smell something?" Rubee asked, wearing a dreamy expression as she perceived it too. "It smells like… flowers! Let's go find them!" She said, zipping off toward the scent.

"Wait, it could be a trap!" Harvey face-palmed when she ignored him. "For crying out loud. She's like a metal to a magnet when it comes to flowers," he muttered as he gave chase, running quickly to make sure he didn't fall behind too much.

Eventually, a figure sitting against the wall grew visible in their path. Harvey squinted his eyes to figure out what it was, but he was still too far from it to make it out. As they got closer, Rubee halted in her tracks, letting out a shriek. Harvey also pulled the brakes when he caught up to her, watching as she pointed at the figure against the wall, her face distraught.

"There's a dead person in here!"

Harvey looked where she pointed. The figure they'd been seeing turned out to be a really old skeleton of a bird-like Pokémon. Its skull was tilted, facing the ground and the jaw was almost dropping off.

"How long has this been here?" Harvey asked, inching closer to examine it. He noticed a bag sitting next to the skeleton, one of the bony wings resting on top of it.

"What are you doing Harvey?!" Rubee asked when she saw him moving even closer to the skeleton, her fingers and toes tingling.

Harvey threw her a dotted eyed look. "I want to see what's in the bag."

"But what if the skeleton comes to life and grabs you?!"

"Oh please, like that's going to happen." To be sure though, Harvey used one of his arrows to poke the skeleton's skull. It didn't budge. Seeing that, he carefully pulled the bag away from the body, his lips curling as he dragged it aside. It was perhaps the dustiest thing he'd ever seen before.

"Well? What's in it?" Rubee said, poking her head over.

Harvey groaned, opening the bag carefully to reveal its contents. In it, they found nothing but a really old journal, a bronze disk-shaped badge and a peculiar gadget. "Is that it?" Harvey said, wearing a bitter smile.

"I know, right? I really thought we'd find a few more things in there," Rubee agreed, equally as disappointed.

"Let's see if there's anything interesting written in this book." Harvey opened the journal, getting greeted by the name of the previous owner 'Omex.' Harvey leafed through some of the pages until he came across some paragraphs written very roughly, suggesting that the owner was in a hurry when he wrote it.

"What's in it?" asked Rubee.

"It's some kind of warning. Let me read it out. _'Ten days have passed since we set out to sea to find the lost guardian. The guildmaster insists that we find her, that she's needed to fight the threat, but after what happened to the temporal tower and all the other guardians… I can no longer believe anyone stands a chance against the shadows, not even guardians. Maybe, just maybe, I will be proven wrong and the future will have lied to me.'"_

Rubee placed her hand on her mouth, tilting her head as she frowned. "Shadows? Guardians? What do they all mean?"

Harvey shook his head, biting on his nail. "I don't know." He leafed through more pages until he found another passage even rougher than the one before. There were even unmistakable bloodstains on the pages, which made Harvey swallow hard.

 _"'There's no hope. Even she has fallen, and this island has been corrupted by the shadows as well. Everyone is… dead, I alone lived, but I do not have much longer either. If someone ever reads this… leave this place while you still can…'_ That's where it ends… What in the world happened to this guy?"

Rubee raised her hands in a shrug. "Beats me." Her eyes then glinted. "The flower, we're pretty close!"

"Wait, don't just run of like tha—aaaaand, she's gone again. What happened to always sticking together, Rubee?!" Harvey said, clicking his tongue as he quickly shoved the journal and gadget into his bag before giving chase after her.

"Hurry up then!" Rubee yelled, fidgeting as she stopped for him to catch up.

When he caught up, they continued together down the tunnel for some minutes until they came across a large room. It was also made up of vined walls and ceiling; it was also oozing a depressing blue aura.

Harvey was quick to observe the giant blue flower bud sitting in the middle of the room, and since the flower scent was strongest in the room, it was clear that's what was getting Rubee riled up.

"Woah! That thing's huge!" Rubee wowed at the flower bud, hovering slowly to it.

"Don't go near that thing Rubee, we have no idea what could happen," Harvey cautioned, raising his paw in front of her. "My mother may be a botanist, but I don't think even she could explain this if she were here!"

Rubee groaned, but she decided to listen to him.

They took slow steps to the bulb, half expecting it to explode and unleash a bloom of chaos every step of the way. Up close, they discovered that it didn't really do anything; it was just sitting there, roots buried deep into the ground, and it was emitting nothing but a faint sensation of gloominess.

Rubee's antennae drooped, hovering away from the bulb. "I don't like this flower… it's too weird. I feel sad just being near it."

"I wonder if we can figure out what it's doing here in the first place. It could give us some clues about this place." Harvey raised his head, looking around the room; from the sloped entrance they came in through to the three other tunnels leading out of the room. His ears then rose; there was someone crying from one of the corridors.

"Did you just hear that? Someone's in trouble!"

"Did one of the kids follow us in here and got lost?"

"I don't think anyone was awake when we came in here, but we should go and help whoever it is!" Harvey said, and so they ran into one of the corridors which occasionally split into other pathways. However, they were guided by the crying sounds.

At long last, they came upon the room, one a lot smaller than the one they were in before. Harvey swerved his head left and right until he spotted a Pokémon, curled up and sobbing in a corner.

"Hey!" he called out, raising his paw in a wave. "Over here!"

The Pokémon looked toward them, her face dampened with tears and eyes black as beads. Her entire back was feathered with blue leaves, starting from two black petaled flowers on the sides of her head. The rest of her body and limbs were covered in stark white fur.

"Are you alright?" Harvey asked, stopping by the blue hedgehog Pokémon.

Rubee hovered in front of the Pokémon, stopping in front of her face. "It's okay, we're here to help you."

"I'm not scared," the Pokémon said, sniffling. "I just want to go home. I don't like it here, but what does it even matter anymore. You two should just stay away from me, I'm nothing but a failure. I abandoned them, I abandoned them all. I'm… I'm the worst," she said, bawling while covering her face.

"It's okay, there there." Harvey placed his paw on his chest. "I'm Harvey, and this is my sister, Rubee." When Harvey finished talking, the Pokémon started wailing even louder than before.

Harvey drew back, his eyes widened. "Uhh, Rubee, make her stop crying?"

"Me?!" Rubee retorted.

"Yeah, give her a pollen puff or something to make her feel better!"

Rubee huffed. "Okay…" she said, materializing a pollen puff on her hand. "Here, this'll make you feel better."

The Pokémon lowered her paws from her face, giving Rubee a reluctant stare as she hiccupped. She collected the pollen puff, nibbling a small bite in between sniffles.

"So, what's your name?" Rubee asked, easing the awkwardness in the atmosphere.

"Shaymin," she replied.

Harvey and Rubee's eyes widened, jaws dropping to the ground. "What?!"

Shaymin stared at them with a blinking expression.

"You're THE Shaymin? The guardian or forests?"

"So, they still call me that? I'm not worthy even of that title, I failed everyone. I've seen everyone I ever loved die as I outlived them all. My life is meaningless to me, and so is everything else," she said, her eyes lowering as she mumbled to herself.

"What happened to you? How did you end up in Kalledes Dead End?"

"I was cursed, I was cursed with this existence… I'll never be able to go home again!" Shaymin said, bursting into tears again.

"That's not true! Your existence is not a curse. We've heard stories about you, stories about how you've helped people. You're not a curse Shaymin, you're a blessing." Harvey said, holding her paw. "We'll get you home, isn't that right, Rubee?"

"Yeah, you can count on us!" Rubee said, nodding with a smile.

The room went quiet, then they heard a rustling noise from the ceiling. The vines had begun twisting, curling and tearing apart as the blue aura poured out like sludge leaking through a broken bucket.

Harvey stood on alert, his face grimacing. "What's going on?!"

"No! It's going to happen again!" Shaymin cried.

Rubee shook her, her heart racing. "What's going to happen?!"

"The floor… it's going to collapse because of me! I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry! It's all my fault!"

"Rubee, we need to get out of here!" Harvey said, furrowing his eyes.

"You don't need to tell me twice!"

They ran a few steps toward the exit of the room, but Harvey noticed that Shaymin wasn't following them. She remained motionless, her head lowered and tears ever dripping down her muzzle.

"Come with us, Shaymin! We need to find somewhere safe!" Harvey pleaded, returning to her as the vines grew crazier all the while.

"No, I'll only share misery with you if I come along. Just leave me here, alone," Shaymin said as she turned her back to him, intent on curling up in a corner somewhere to continue crying, but Harvey wasn't going to have any of that. He dashed and stopped in front of her, a trail of white quickly diminishing behind him.

"I know I only met you today and it doesn't make sense for me to be this persistent, but I'm not leaving you behind no matter what you say, so please, come with us! I cannot force you to do anything, nor do I know what turned you like this, but I can only help you if you let me!" Harvey said, lending his hand out to her.

Shaymin stared at him in silence, then her lips started curving into a smile. Harvey's mouth hung open, she was actually smiling! Though just a little.

"You sounded a lot like him just now. Okay, I'll come with you." As Shaymin said that, the blue permeating aura started receding back into the ceiling, and the vines tightened the loose gaps between them. It then occurred to Harvey, the stronger her feeling of sadness, the less stable everywhere became on the floor.

"Hey, the place is back to normal!" Rubee said, heaving a relieved sigh.

"If you can really free me from this place, then maybe…" Then, she looked like she was about to cry again.

"Yes, you'll be free, Shaymin! Now, let's find the way out together!" Harvey quickly said, and he managed to prevent the worst from happening again.

Shaymin responded with a nod, her smile more visible.

Together along with Shaymin, they traced their path back to the large room with the flower bulb so they could start over from there. However, as soon as they got into the room, Shaymin started acting strange, the black flowers on her head emanating a faint buzzing sensation. Harvey's heart panicked when he saw that, thinking she was about to fall into another breakdown, but he rested assured when she didn't.

"Shaymin? Where are you going?" Harvey asked, following closely behind her.

"It's the way out…" Shaymin said, approaching the bulb slowly.

Shaymin stopped right in front of the flower bud. When she pressed her paw against it, a single petal on each of her flowers glowed in a faint pink light, and the large blue flower opened and bloomed, revealing its true star shape and a dark brownish hollow center.

A wave of light then coursed through Shaymin's body, transforming her leaves into a light green hue and a petal from her flowers to pink. She turned around toward them, her expression sickly and her stance fragile. "You two," she uttered. "I can't keep this for long, but you have to listen to me while there's still time!"

"What's happening to you, Shaymin?" Harvey asked, his mind still processing what he was witnessing.

"I don't know who either of you are, or why you've come here, but I need your help," Shaymin said, wincing for a second. "There's a version of me on every floor… find all of them, remind them of what it meant to be me. It's the only way. Please!" Shaymin said before she was absorbed into the large flower, vanishing before their very eyes.

"Hey, wait!" Harvey drew his arm out toward her, but she was already gone.

"So, what do we do now?" Rubee asked, tilting her head, gulping. "She didn't even remember us."

Harvey waved his paw at her, giving her an 'isn't it obvious' look. "Shaymin said there was a version of her on every floor, but since she couldn't recognize us for some reason, the one we met just now was both her and not her at the same time."

"Huh?" Rubee asked, blinking.

"What I'm saying is that we can save Shaymin, and also get out of here."

"Well then, what are we waiting for?!" Rubee chimed, throwing a fist into the air. As she hovered near the hole in the flower, her expression dimmed. She turned her face toward Harvey, glancing repeated at the hole as though she wasn't certain about going inside it.

Harvey heaved an exasperated sigh. "Fine, I'll go in first!" And so, he walked up to it and jumped into the hole without the slightest bit of hesitation.

Rubee screamed. "W-wait for me!" She said, flying after him moments later.

As Harvey fell through the hole, he found it curious that it was a misty blotched gray tube with nothing but empty space and mist surrounding him. He swiped his paw against the mist, but it phased right through him, earning an intrigued look from him. About five seconds later, they were dropped off into another empty room, Harvey landing with a pained groaned while Rubee floated above him. She was holding back a laugh.

"Owww," Harvey said, raising his face as he pulled against the sand.

"Are you alright?" Rubee asked, dropping next to his face.

Harvey nodded, pushing himself back to his feet and dusting off his fur. "I'm good, but what's up with this floor?!" Harvey asked, his hair rising on end and his body growing agitated. "It feels so…"

"Gross, so gross." Rubee drew her face in, covering her mouth as she nodded in agreement.

The second floor was oozing a powerfully resentful stench that smelled like rotting fish corpses and sewage, permeating the air everywhere to the point it appeared as a greenish mist. There was an abundance of fungus on the wall vines, where some parts of it had decayed while other parts were greasy to the touch. Even the ceiling vines looked sickly, and were coated in a viscous brown aura. Harvey really didn't want to know what would happen if he touched that.

"Urrgh, I think I'm going to puke," Harvey said, his eyes growing watery as his dinner tried crawling up his throat. "We need to find the shaymin and flower on this floor, and fast. Rubee, can you locate the flower like last time?"

"Barely, but between all the awfulness in this place—" she hadn't finished her sentence when they both heard movement from behind them.

Harvey and Rubee turned around in alert, and then they saw two purple, yellow whiskered blob-like Pokémon approaching them. Like the Spinarak on the previous floor, these ones had lifeless empty eyes. Their arms short and stubby, bearing just three digits each and their abdomen were circled with multiple black diamond marks. As they moved, their large lips would protrude in and out, a thing Harvey found very irritating.

"Rubee, stand back!" Harvey said, well aware of her poison weakness as he withdrew his weapon. He shot an arrow at one, but the Swalot swallowed it hole, its mouth expanding wide enough to fit three Pokémon of Harvey's size.

"It… it ate your arrow!"

Harvey frowned in disdain, his mind growing nauseous by the minute. The Swalot spat out a green viscous liquid at Harvey, but he managed to sidestep out of the way despite his dizziness. When Harvey saw the green liquid making the ground sizzle, his eyes widened. "Acid?! Rubee, let's bail!" Harvey darted in the opposite direction from the Swalots. "Hurry!"

"You don't have to tell me!" Rubee said in a frightened voice, following him.

The Swalots tried to give chase, repeatedly unleashing a flurry of acid sprays in Harvey and Rubee's direction, but they failed. Their movements were slow, and so were their attacks. Harvey and Rubee managed to escape, dealing with poison types was too bothersome for Harvey. His only hope was that they could find Shaymin and move on before they run into another one of them.

 

* * *

**That's all for now! Thanks very much for reading! I'd highly appreciate any and all reviews or any faves for that matter. I'll gradually post the rest of the story once I've written ten chapters, so i hope you like what i've presented for now.**


	3. The Red Flower

"Are we getting closer to the flower yet?" Harvey asked, wheezing as he gripped hard on his chest. He stopped walking, bending over as he coughed non-stop from the gases and fumes enveloping them.

"We're almost there," Rubee said, barely standing the stench of the place herself. She looked at Harvey over her shoulder; from his darting eyes, fidgeting movement and incessant mumblings, he looked like he could snap at any second. Rubee drifted closer to his shoulder, gently reaching her palm to him. "Harvey, are you going to be alright?"

Harvey tried to force a smile in response, but he couldn't muster the strength to do so. "I just want us to get off this floor already… before, aaargh!" Harvey let out a yell, rubbing his eyes with his paws repeatedly. "Just how close are we?!"

Rubee drew back from him, closely dodging a swing of his tail slap. Harvey glared at her, his pupils retracted to dots and his nose twitching every few seconds. He then turned around and bolted off into the corridor.

Oh no! He's really beginning to lose it! "Harvey, wait!" Rubee called out as she gave chase. I know you're a clean freak Harvey, but I never imagined we'd ever end up in a place like this that'd push you over the edge like this… it's scary seeing you this way.

"Harvey, where are you going?!" Rubee yelled, trying to catch up. Somehow, he was faster in his state of perilous insanity. When he didn't listen, she'd puff her cheeks up in annoyance.

Rubee flew in front of his path and spread her arms wide. "Harvey, if you truly love me, you'd stop right no—" Hardly had she finished when he dashed past her with quick attack. I really thought that would work. Oh dear, if only there was a way I could snap him out of this… wait! I could try using that sweet scent move, maybe that'll bring him back to his senses.

Gaining on him with her superior speed, Rubee flew past Harvey. She stopped and took a deep breath, though she regretted her decision right after when the awful stench almost made her to choke.

Right, the air still smells like poop, she mentally noted. Rubee puffed her cheeks up, her face growing red as she fell into deep concentration. She stared at Harvey as he approached her, his eyes closed, and a pained expression on his face.

Here goes nothing! Rubee told herself, repeatedly flapping her wings with all her strength to raise a gust of wind with silvery shards in them. The gust blew forward like a twister, and threw Harvey back as he ran right into it. Rubee's heart sunk into her stomach when she heard Harvey scream, his arms shielding his face as the silvery shards cut slits through his skin. Rubee quickly stopped the attack, flying to him as he was shuddering. I'm such an idiot! I used silver wind! "Harvey, I'm… I'm so sorry, I didn't mean—" She gasped when Harvey raised his paw near his mouth, biting hard on it with his teeth.

"Hey, what are you doing, stop that!" Rubee yelled, attempting to pull his paw out of his mouth.

"It's okay," Harvey said, wincing as he spoke. He threw her a glance and said, "Thanks for that by the way."

Rubee threw her arms wide, her face heating up. "Thanks for what, hurting you?!"

"Yeah," Harvey nodded, watching blood slowly dripping from his tooth marked wrist.

Rubee frowned, glaring at him as he tore out a portion of the blanket in his bag. As he was wrapping it around his wound like a makeshift bandage, he looked her way, and when he saw the look she was giving him, he quickly said, "I'm sorry for going crazy on you like that. I think I… almost… hit you."

"What are you saying?! I don't care if you hit me when you were being all crazy, but you shouldn't be thanking me for hurting you, idiot!" Rubee retorted, tears welling up in her eyes, though she tried to hide it by looking away.

Harvey stared back at her, his eyes widened and his mouth hung open. "Oh! I was thanking you because you snapped me out of it long enough for me to do this," Harvey said, raising his bandaged arm, fingers twitching ever slightly. "Sorry for scaring you like that."

"I wasn't scared! I was just… worried!" Rubee yelled, heaving a sigh while quickly wiping her eyes. She turned back slowly at him, her eyes falling on his paw. "Doesn't that," she said, observing the pained look on his face. "Hurt?"

"Oh, it hurts alright!" Harvey said, biting his lip. "I can't even use my bow."

"Do you want a pollen puff?"

"Not now. The pain keeps my mind away from how… this place is." Harvey said, using another torn portion of his blanket to cover his face nose-down. "I can't fight very well with just one paw, so I'll need you to watch my back."

Gasp! This'll be my chance to act as the big sister! "Don't worry Harvey, you can count on me!" Rubee said, wearing a wide grin as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Well don't I feel safer already?" Harvey chuckled lightly. He took a few steps forward and raised his face. "Now then, let's get back on track. We find the Shaymin on this floor, then we get the hell out of here."

"Right!" Rubee hovered around his head, her antennae twitching as she surveyed for the flower trail. Her lips curved in a smile when she picked up on a trail. "It's over that way!"

***C***

And so, with Rubee acting as Harvey's guiding key, they traversed the rotting labyrinth, avoiding anything that looked too disgusting for them to even come close to. At one point, they mistook a lump of filth protruding from a wall to be an enemy Pokémon. Out of instinct, Rubee threw a bluish-white pollen puff at the target which froze it solid on contact.

Harvey couldn't help uttering in surprise, "Just how many types of those can you use?"

"Depends on the kind of flowers I find," Rubee replied giddily.

"How many do you have left?"

"Counting all the ones I've used today, I'd say I can make twelve more of them without refilling my pollen sacs."

"Wow, that sounds really—"

"Disgusting," said a voice from somewhere nearby.

They turned to the direction of the voice and found a Shaymin with brown leaves, wearing a bitter expression while staring at a wall in front of her. "Everything in this world is nothing but ugly."

"Hey, it's Shaymin!" Rubee buzzed. Her voice startled the shaymin, whom threw them a sour glance before exhaling an exasperated sigh.

"Urgh, who are you two supposed to be?" Shaymin asked sourly. As they were about to answer, she threw them a dismissive wave. "I don't really care, just get out of my hair already. This place is ugly enough, I don't need to deal with more of it."

Rubee frowned, folding her arms. Okay, I really don't like this Shaymin.

"We're here to help, Shaymin," Harvey said, walking toward Shaymin with his paws raised upward.

Shaymin jerked away from him, her face cringing and her teeth exposed. "Stay away from me, you filthy Pokémon!" She pressed her paws against her mouth, almost looking like she was going to throw up. "Get away! You're going to make me puke."

Shaymin tapped her paw on the ground, and suddenly a wall of vines sprung from the soil around her, forming a barrier between them.

Harvey paused in his tracks, waving his paws around as he said, "Look Shaymin, we met another you on the floor before this one. We helped her get through her sadness, and we're going to help you get through your problem too, if you'd just let us."

Shaymin scoffed at him. "Problems? I don't have any problems! Even if I did, I don't want your help. Go away!"

"Hey, what's your deal?!" Rubee hovered forward, sharing in Harvey's frustration.

Harvey clicked his tongue. "Are all the Shaymins going to be this stubborn?"

Rubee observed as Harvey fell into thinking, and she hoped he'd come up with a way to lure Shaymin out of her self-made barrier. She pushed her hands against her face, her eyes drifting around the room with the ever present rotting smell and fumes. Given her typing, Rubee was growing anxious that the floor might poison her eventually.

Harvey gasped. "That's it!"

Rubee tilted her head, exhaling a relieved gasp. "What's it?"

"I have an idea," Harvey said, flicking his fingers. "Hey Shaymin, look what I have!" Harvey said, pulling out a small pebble sized marble from his bag. The pebble was dark purple and had streaks of black. Harvey had polished it so much that it had become extremely shiny.

"What? What's that?! I want it!" Shaymin said, enamored by the shininess of the polished rock. "Give me!" She demanded, throwing her arms through the gaps in her vine fence.

Rubee watched with him with widened eyes, her lips parted slightly. Is he really going to give her his lucky treasure?

"Only if you come with us," Harvey said, drawing the marble away from Shaymin. "Then you can have it."

Shaymin rolled her eyes and hissed. "Fine! I don't care. Just give me the stupid rock and I'll come with you or whatever." With a swing of her paw, the vines receded into the ground, leaving behind small mounds of grimy soil.

"Come on, give it!" Shaymin demanded, snatching the shiny pebble from Harvey's hand. He didn't even show the slightest sign of irritation by her behavior as she raised it in front of her face, her eyes gleaming with delight as her mouth drooled. "A dusk stone! It's so pretty, and clean! Thank you very much… thank you…"

"What's wrong?" Harvey asked.

"It's nothing. I just can't remember the last time I thanked anyone," Shaymin said, laughing a little, then her face grew dazed again. "So, where did you want me to follow you again?"

Harvey gave Rubee slight nod. Rubee understood. "It's right this way! I know where to go!" Phew! I'm glad we're finally getting out of this dump of a place! Rubee thought, her forehead creasing.

On their way to the flower room, Rubee hovered next to Harvey's ear and asked in a whispered voice, "Are you really sure about letting her have that? I mean, Moga gave it to you and you're just handing it over now?"

"Well, it is just a rock. Besides, it's either that or we remain in this place," Harvey said, pointing her toward the decaying walls. "You decide."

Rubee placed her palm on her mouth, groaning. "I guess you have a point."

"You two are so slow, hurry up!" Shaymin said, trotting in front of them with her head held high.

They got to the large room with the flower in it. Unlike the room in the previous floor. There was a giant orange five petaled flower glued to the wall, and like everything in the floor so far, it smelled like a dying corpse. Neither Harvey nor Rubee were eager to move one step near it until Shaymin did her thing and unlocked the path to the next floor for them.

Before Shaymin was absorbed into the flower, she turned to them with a smile. "Always aim for the light, and you'll find your way. Hurry, I'll be waiting for you." With those few words, she disappeared into the flower's center, a center that was glowing with a red crimson hue.

Harvey and Rubee approached the flower, cautious as to where it was going to lead them. They were also blocking their noses so they wouldn't have to smell its odor.

"I've always wondered what a Rafflesia flower looked like in real life, but I never thought it'd be this huge," Harvey said, poking his head into the flower's round interior. "It only looks slightly different from the ones I've seen in Mom's study books." After a brief pause, he motioned to Rubee, "Come on, let's carry on!"

***C***

"Wow, this place gives me the creeps," Harvey said, his ears drooping as the pathway behind them fizzled.

The third floor was vast, empty and broken in fragments. Harvey and Rubee found themselves standing on a platform which periodically glowed in a bright orange color before dimming out. Whenever the platform dimmed, its outlines glowed into a neon white, giving it a rather sci-fi look. They could see similar floating platforms and fragmented pathways surrounding them in every direction they looked, ranging from long pillars that never seemed to end to spiraling platforms that looked ready to collapse and even some that looked as though they were lit on fire.

"Rubee, I think I could use that pollen puff now," Harvey said, gnashing his teeth as he held his injured paw hard.

"I thought it wasn't bothering you before," Rubee commented as she handed him a yellow healing pollen puff.

"Yeah, my crazy instincts that made me want to leave that place so bad coupled the insane pain I was feeling kind of canceled each other out in a strange way. Now that we're out of there, all I'm left with is the…" Harvey couldn't even finish his sentence before stuffing the pollen puff in his mouth. He let out a relieved sigh as the wound healed rapidly, leaving not even the faintest of scars. "Feels much better now," Harvey huffed, undoing the bandages around his paw and flexing his fingers.

Rubee took her eyes off Harvey's actions and started hovering idly, watching all the structures around herself. To her, they looked like stars in the night sky, or perhaps giant irregular planets and moons looming? She didn't really know how to put it, though one in particular seemed to get bigger each time it glowed. Rubee squinted her eyes harder at it, and her heart soon started beating rapidly with each time it glowed.

"Harvey!" Rubee grabbed him and took off into the air. Before Harvey could ask why she just did that, they heard a loud crashing boom immediately followed by several chunks of debris flying in their direction. She managed to avoid all of them, but barely.

"That was too close!" Harvey said, gasping with widened eyes. "Let's keep our eyes peeled for more crashing platforms."

Rubee stared back vacantly at where they were just moments before. "Yeah, let's."

I thought that the last floor would be the craziest one we've been to yet, but I was wrong. This one's a fruit punch of crazy multiplied by seven! Rubee snapped out of her thoughts to strengthen her grip around Harvey.

"Rubee, over there! That place looks safe enough. We should head there for now," Harvey said, panting as they maneuvered around chunks of rock and dead plant matter.

Rubee's eyes fell on the platform he pointed at. It looked shaky at best, slanting with rubble slowly falling off one of the edges. It was like a piece of a wall that broke off, because there were several hanging vines interlaced around it.

Rubee did her best to land gently and for once since they entered the floor, they could catch a break.

"First thing's first, what is wrong with this floor?" Harvey said, sitting down as Rubee found a spot beside him. "It so… chaotic."

"I can barely even sense the flower on this floor, and it'll be hard finding it with how dark this place is even with all the glowy things around."

Harvey furrowed his brows, staring at the far distance. "Have you noticed that none of the other platforms are moving? Wonder what made that other one to suddenly fall down on us," Harvey said, peeking over the edge of the platform only to be greeted by the same dark emptiness. "Yep, I wouldn't want to find out what lies at the bottom down there."

"Harvey… what is that?" Rubee asked, her hand shaking as she pointed at a bright orange spinning object. It looked like a flaming cannon ball, and it was darting around like a meteor. It crashed from platform to platform with constant momentum, throwing everything it hit flying deeper into the darkness.

"What is it now?" Harvey said, striding over next to her. He squinted his eyes at the object, gasping as it turned its trajectory straight toward them. "Crap! Let's get out of here!"

Rubee whisked Harvey up into the air as she attempted to evade the flaming cannon ball. They'd only gotten a handful of meters into the air when they heard a large boom behind them again, and before they could react to it, they had to avoid a strike from behind them when the flaming cannon bounced off the platform into them. Rubee barely dodged, but she lost her balance from the sheer turbulence of the cannon's speed and ended up losing her grip around Harvey. When she recovered, she gasped, watching with widened eyes as Harvey plummeted down screaming.

"Harvey!" she screamed at the top of her lungs as she took a nosedive to catch him before he crashed into the platform below. She bit her lip as she came close to reaching him, stretching her arms out as far as she could. Rubee reached him barely, but they were so close to the ground that they both fell down rolling. As the dust cleared, Rubee heard Harvey groaning, but a wave of relief swept across her just knowing that he was alive at least.

"That's another one I owe you now," Harvey said, dusting himself as he stood up.

"Yeah, don't mention it," Rubee replied with a dismissive wave followed by a chuckle. She fluttered her wings to hover over the ground. From a quick observation, she learned that they were on a very wide platform that even had some of its walls still present even in the absence of any ceilings. It was what's left of a large room, she surmised.

Their ears went rattling when they heard another loud crash close to them. Whatever chased them before had crashed onto their platform, nearly splitting it in half. When the smoke cleared, Harvey and Rubee were finally greeted by it, and it turned out to be another Shaymin. Unlike the other Shaymins however, she looked just as vicious as all the other wild Pokémon they'd encountered in the dead end.

Her flowers had four pink petals, and her back was decorated with bright red leaves which periodically switched to a ventra black, making her almost impossible to see when the platform wasn't glowing. She shot Harvey and Rubee a glare, taking slow burning steps toward them with a low growl.

"Shaymin?" Harvey said, slowly raising a paw toward her. Rubee could feel his body shaking just by hovering next to him.

"Who are you?! Are you one of them too?!" Shaymin's expression suddenly went grim as she started backing away from them. "No! Please leave me alone!" She then switched back to her rage, her body flaring up once more. "I'll never let you hurt me again!"

"I have a feeling calming her down isn't going to be easy," Harvey said, clicking his tongue as his tail turned white, its fur becoming sharp and jagged in the process. "Get ready for anything, Rubee."

"Are we going to fight her?!" Rubee asked, throwing him a confused glare while keeping the approaching Shaymin in her field of vision.

"No. We're going to try and stall her, see if we can tire her out."

Shaymin stood still momentarily, then she curled up like a ball. She started spinning violently in place, creating a shower of dust behind her and causing a depression in the ground. With a loud boom, Shaymin shot forward in Harvey's direction, leaving a trail of red and flames behind her as she advanced.

Harvey immediately took an evasive leap to the side, dodging the attack. As Harvey rebounded back to his feet, he saw Shaymin continue to fly off into the distance away from them, but not for long, as she continuously changed trajectory until she was eventually coming their way again.

Harvey clicked his tongue. They only had a few seconds before they'd have to dodge another Shaymin Spin Dash.

"Harvey, I have a feeling she's going to kill us long before we even make her break a sweat," Rubee said, groaning.

"I know that!" Harvey retorted, wiping some dirt off his cheek. "We need to find a way to pin her down!"

"How are we going to do that?!" Rubee asked, but Harvey couldn't answer.

Shaymin came bolting at them, forcing Harvey and Rubee to separate in order to evade the attack. The force of Shaymin's impact pushed Rubee away, making her fall on the ground. Rubee groaned as she carried herself back on her knees, her eyes drifting until they fell on Harvey, whom was standing a few feet away from Shaymin. Rubee struggled to carry herself back into the air as Shaymin turned her attention toward Harvey.

What's he doing?! Why isn't he running away?! Rubee asked herself, watching Harvey stand in place as Shaymin readied another one of her dash attacks. Harvey crouched forward, his tail gathering energy until its white jaggedness turned into a silvery luster. It was when Rubee saw the lingering white fuming from his body like gentle steam that she realized what Harvey was trying to do.

"Harvey, don't be crazy!" Rubee yelled as she flew in their direction, but her chest pained when she knew she wouldn't make it there on time.

"I'm going to make you listen to me whether you want to or not, Shaymin!" Harvey said moments before Shaymin darted forward at him. Rubee barely understood what happened next, all she could do was watch.

Shaymin would dash at Harvey, he'd dodge and strike her with his iron tail, breaking her momentum and slowing her down ever so slightly. They continued in that routine multiple times, both parties equally insistent on outdoing the other. Rubee knew she was supposed to be doing something to assist, but she was completely mesmerized by the sparks that shot off each time Harvey and Shaymin clashed body and tail. Eventually though, Harvey held Shaymin down as she clashed with him, one of his eyes closed as the sparks were beginning to fly toward his face. With a roaring cry, Harvey swung his tail forward, sending Shaymin flying and landing on the ground on her back.

Harvey took that chance to quickly get on top of her and pin her down. "Look at me!" Harvey said, breathing heavily as Shaymin slowly raised her eyes to meet his.

"Please leave me alone, I don't want to hurt anyone… I don't want to be afraid anymore," she said, her body visibly shaking as her leaves turned black one by one.

"Then don't give in to your fear! You must fight it, remember who you're meant to be, who you are! Tell me, who are you?!"

In that one brief moment… Maybe it was the color of the floor, or she was bonked in the head from her previous fall, but Rubee could swear that Harvey's eyes had turned golden.

Tears streamed down Shaymin's face, her anger and fears fading away like steam. "I'm Shaymin… I'm Shaymin!" she said, burying her face into Harvey's chest, the floor gradually stabilizing as she cried. Floating platforms started connecting to each other like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and in a matter of minutes, the floor looked just as normal as the first floor they'd been in.

Shaymin drew back from Harvey slowly, taking deep breaths as she walked a few steps from them. "I'm sorry for attacking you two like that, even though you were just trying to help me. I… I thought you were one of them."

"One of them?" Harvey asked, tilting his ears as he stood up.

"They were Pokémon that came from a world of nightmares… I was so afraid of them, but not anymore, thanks to you," Shaymin said, smiling.

Shaymin raised her face toward a large red flower with a bright yellow center at the middle. Rubee immediately felt stupid for not noticing something that large and obvious sooner.

"Your journey is almost over. There's still one of them left. You must help her accept reality, for she'll never know what if feels like by herself," Shaymin said, by then her leaves had turned green and all but one of the petals on her head flowers each were pink. "And be wary of the wood carver."

"Help her accept reality?" Rubee asked, blinking as they were walking toward the large flower.

Shaymin gave her a solemn nod. "You'll understand when you meet her," she said, and with that, she was absorbed into the flower until they were to meet her in the next floor.

Before they entered the flower's portal, Harvey placed his paw against his chin. "I wonder what she meant by that. And there's that wood carver she mentioned…"

Rubee raised her hands in a shrug. "Dunno… we'll just have to go and see!" she said, throwing her arm into the air.

Harvey clicked his tongue, letting out a groan. As he was going to to walk into the portal, Rubee quickly noticed that the once black oval sitting in the middle of the blue mark on his back had turned into a crimson red.

"Harvey wait!" Rubee said, drawing her hand toward him.

"Hrrrn?" Harvey threw her a glance over his shoulder, his brow raised.

"Do you feel different in any way… ever since we got here?" she asked, adding a nervous chuckle at the end of her sentence.

Harvey groaned then shrugged. "Nope. I feel pretty much the same. Why?"

She gave him a dismissive wave, her eyes trailing off. "Oh, it's nothing! Carry on!"

Harvey narrowed his eyes at her for a moment, then proceeded into the flower portal. Rubee took a brief pause to heave a relieved sigh. I guess it really was just my imagination after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there guys! This story was made possible thanks to my wonderful friends at Fanfiction.net. We run this learning forum where we share ideas and help each other fulfill their potential as writers. Best of all, we're more PMD oriented, and you'll fit in easily if you're a fan of the genre.
> 
> If you're interested, here's the link: https://www.fanfiction.net/forum/Pokemon-Mystery-Dungeon-Writers-United/199441/
> 
> However though, you're free to refuse.


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